Danny Smith

Consultant

Armakuni

Pole Star EAM

Chief Operations Officer

Oyster®

Consultant - Remote Workplace Design & People Ops

Delocate (acquired by Oyster)

Principal Consultant

RED Academy

VP Technology

Global Curriculum Director, Technology

Lead Instructor

Ada. National College for Digital Skills

Curriculum Designer & Lecturer

CharlieHR

Senior Software Engineer

Sparta Global

I wore *a lot* of hats as we grew from a 3-employee startup to 80+ folks

All Sorts

Royal Air Force Air Cadets

Adjutant, Central Training Team, HQ RAFAC

COO & Consultant | Creating high-performance remote organisations 👨‍💻🌍

I work with leaders to intentionally design remote organisations & ways of working, laying the foundations for rapid scaling, long-term organisational health, and a globally distributed workforce.

I spent 2021 at Oyster, scaling their fully-remote (globally distributed) company from 14 to 500 people (and a $1bn valuation). Which was absolutely wild.

I work mostly at the intersection of system design, human behaviour, remote work & operations. I'm convinced that knowledge work has no borders and the "remote work revolution" has the power to make the world a fairer and more equal place for everyone. Globally distributed companies are the future.  And the remote workplace should be diverse, safe & supportive for all.

I talk about "Organisational Health" a lot because healthy orgs feel calm when ploughing through unknown waters at 1000mph and can operate on the edge of chaos without being chaotic: much better for our people, and our business. Since systemic health problems have a disproportionately large effect on distributed remote teams (and quickly compound with scale), I'm on a mission to help folks be more intentional about how they design & transform remote-first orgs.

➡️ Read more on this → https://danny.is/writing/organisational-health

I love meeting new folks, so hit me up if you wanna chat 🙂☎️

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Wanna learn about remote best practices? 👇

· Oyster Reef → https://oysterhr.notion.site/Welcome-to-The-Reef-Oyster-s-Open-Source-Employee-Guide-fc482e3f107c4afd8c85ed217f1d0c1d
· Some tiny remote working tips → https://danny.is/remote

If you've read this far you *might* be interested to know...

· I've a sporadic sideline in personal coaching and team facilitation.
· I used to be a software engineer, but realised I have a much bigger impact when I help others do their thing better. And now that's my thing. (I still code, but just for fun.)
· Before that I was a blues musician. I still perform and jam lots: music has this weird ability to transcend language and cultural barriers.
· I'm a generalist. Obviously. Sorry not sorry.


In the past, my desire to "make work better for everyone" saw me doing:

· Education → curriculum design, learning design, teaching etc.
· Engineering process → DevOps, architecture etc
· Agile coaching & delivery process (SAFe still gives me nightmares).
· Design systems before they were hip.

Running Remote

Running Remote Community is a membership for leaders building & scaling their distributed companies while getting the support they need, when they need it.

Members of our community have built distributed companies like Hotjar, Toggl, X-Team, Mural, Slack and more.

Want to be part of a network of remote-first founders & executives? Join here - https://runningremote.com/community/

Head of Community

Start Me Up (Careers)

Start Me Up specialize in helping startups scale with remote teams and already helped hundreds of startups by providing free access to our pool of world-class remote talent. 

Its candidates are from top universities in the UK and the US (such as Princeton, Berkeley, Oxford and Cambridge) and are coached by our expert mentors on projects ranging from digital marketing and web development to market research and data analysis.

I grew Start Me Up network of startups from zero to 150 in two months and matched them with a world-class remote talent.

Business Development & Community

HUBUD

Bali’s first and one of planet Earth’ top-ranked coworking spaces according to Forbes, CNBC, Huffington Post and Lonely Planet, Hubud has welcomed over 10,000 members from 80 countries since it opened in 2013, and collectively it changed the way people live, work and learn. 

With over 440 learning events a year from skill shares, meetups, conferences to educational programs we were changing the way people learn. 

As the Head of Sales and Marketing, I was responsible for creating and executing marketing & sales strategies that were telling a compelling story about Hubud, its community, events and programs, out into the world. 

I led an international team that was running marketing campaigns with monthly organic reach over 240k, newsletter’s opening rates over 40%, monthly website visits over 10k and an online reputation above 4,8 resulting in over 4k customers from 80 countries in 2 years and being featured in Lonely Planet, BBC and Forbes.

Head of Marketing & Community

As Business Development & Sales Manager I was responsible for creating new services offered to its members and community. I've designed and was responsible for selling our special hassle-free landing packages — tailored for individuals + groups looking for an incredible adventure, but with expert guidance and convenience up-front, which quickly became a big chunk of the revenue (40% rise in revenue per year).

I have also created organization's 70+ pages fully responsive website and implemented almost all softwares and SaaS tools that the Hubud team used on a daily basis.

Business Development & Sales Manager 

CU Asia: Coworking Unconference

CU Asia is the largest conference on Coworking and related industries in Asia Pacific (running since 2015 till now). In 2015 and 2016 it was held in Bali, 2017 in Thailand, 2018 in Malaysia, and 2019 in India. Attendees include coworking management and operators, community builders, government bodies, startup networks, real estates, shared office operators, investors and others. 

I led marketing and sales (and the team for the first 3 editions) of CU Asia making it profitable (doubling revenue each year), easily scalable (first two editions in Bali, then Thailand, Malaysia, India) and recognisable (from zero to 500+ participants).

Team Lead / Full Stack Marketer 

Kopernik

Kopernik finds what works to reduce poverty by experimenting with potential solutions that address common challenges facing people living in the last mile. They serve underserved and disadvantaged people around the world by striving to find more effective solutions to poverty reduction.

I managed development and content creation of organization’s +200 pages trilingual (English, Japanese, Indonesian) website. I was also responsible for its rebranding across a few locations.

Communications | Project Manager

Stowarzyszenie WIOSNA

Managed fundraising campaigns (and a team of 10+) that resulted in USD270k + in profits. My responsibilities also included: PR, Social media management, landing pages creation and events organization.

Creative & Communications Manager

TEDxKrakow

I recruited and lead the marketing team of +5 volunteers for two editions of which two talks are featured on TED.com.

Marketing Manager

Fundacja Partnerstwo dla Środowiska

Led communications campaigns for EU projects (working with an international public relations company with over 80 offices around the world).

PR Manager

Towarzystwo na rzecz Ziemi

Leading on of organisation's EU projects including reporting, events organization, partners relationships.

Project Coordinator

Buena Vista Spanish Language School

Running the school, including customer service & sales, communications with students and teachers, designing promotional materials and marketing. 

I run the school by myself (including salary payments) for 6 months while my boss took time off and went to Brazil:)

School Manager

Kasia is a dedicated community builder with over a decade of experience in the community. Her passion lies in fostering environments where individuals come together to learn, connect, and flourish.

Her journey in community building began at Hubud, a renowned coworking space in Bali recognized by Lonely Planet and Forbes as one of the top 10 coworking spaces globally. There, she spearheaded marketing and community building initiatives.

Currently, Kasia leads the Running Remote community, an integral part of the fastest-growing conference on flexible work. This highly vetted and paid community caters to founders and People Ops executives of remote and distributed companies, boasting notable members such as GitLab, Hotjar, Doist, Toggl, Typeform, and MURAL.

With a profound understanding of the challenges faced by remote leaders, Kasia is committed to providing a platform where they can effect real change and thrive in their professional endeavors.

She is also a creator of the Running Remote Community Gems newsletter on LinkedIn - a curated selection of best practices, advice, tools, and the latest stories from Running Remote Community members.

Kasia Triantafelo

I tried to be Liam Martin for a night.
 
Let’s just say… we’re not exactly twins 😅
We don’t look alike and I’m definitely not half as funny when giving speeches.

But jokes aside - what an honour to represent Liam and the whole team at the International Business Awards Gala last week and bring home some serious wins:

🏆 Gold - Thought Leader of the Year for Liam Martin
🏆 Silver - Achievement in Technology Innovation for Time Doctor's Unusual Activity Report
 🏆 Bronze - Thought Leadership Brand / Experience for Running Remote conference 

Our first-ever Stevie Awards and global recognition for our work helping the world transition to #distributed work and brining more trust into the workforce.

Huge shoutout to the Time Doctor and Running Remote teams - we did it 🙌

Now the real question is…
where do remote teams keep their trophies when there’s no office to show them off in? 👀

Helping founders and People Ops executives build and run great remote companies | Storyteller & Community Strategist @Running Remote | Subscribe for insights on remote team management

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m failing.
As a mum.
As a partner.
As an employee.

Everything feels like too much.

And then there’s AI 💣  - changing how we work, parent, live.
I’m barely keeping up.

Has the world gone mad? Or is it just me trying to run an old system in a world that updates daily?

And also, if I’m struggling having #remote work and #flexibility - how are women doing it without it???

Maybe the real future of work isn’t about AI or automation.

Maybe it’s about giving women a chance to actually breathe (I wish I could make this sentence bold!)

How are you balancing it all lately? What’s helping you stay afloat?

Do you think your #remote team is psychologically safe just because they work from home?

Think again.

As Tim Burgess put it — blame culture and toxic interactions can be just as damaging digitally.
Sometimes even worse when they happen in the one place people should feel safest: their own homes.

That was just one of the misconceptions that came up in recent community conversations.

Here are a few more 👇

❌ “It means no conflict.” 
Safety isn’t about keeping things comfortable - it’s about creating space to voice hard truths, challenge leadership, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment. — Lavinia Yosub (Iosub) (Livit)

❌ “It means avoiding tough conversations.” 
Safety doesn’t mean sugarcoating. It means having the hard talks - with empathy, respect, and curiosity. — Charlie Smethurst (Airalo)

❌ “Silence means everyone’s fine.” 
Especially in remote teams, silence often signals fear, not comfort. Real safety sounds like open disagreement, not quiet compliance. — Kara Grenier (Sightly)

❌ “It means oversharing.” 
Safety isn’t forced vulnerability. It’s mutual trust and respect - without needing to share every detail of your personal life. — Lizzie Brough (TopHatch)

❌ “No news is good news.” 
If people stop raising issues, that’s not calm - that’s caution. — Tory Tupper Del Favero (Beefree)

We unpacked more of these insights in our latest article. I’ll drop it in the comments.

What’s one misconception about psychological safety in remote settings you’ve seen in action? 👀

Did you know that the best surgical teams make more mistakes?

At least - that’s what the data says.

Not because they’re careless.
But because they talk about their mistakes openly!

That’s psychological safety in action.

And it’s just as critical in a Slack threads as it is in an operating room. 

So how do you build that kind of safety - when your team’s scattered across time zones?

Here’s what leaders in the Running Remote community shared 👇

💬 Model curiosity, not blame.
When things go wrong, Tim Burgess asks “what can we learn?” instead of “who’s at fault?” And Meredith L. reminds: when leaders own their mistakes publicly, it normalizes honesty.

🎯 Make safety visible.
At Livit, Lavinia Yosub (Iosub)’s culture deck says: “See it. Say it. Fix it.”
Meaghan Williams champions rituals like Failure Fridays - or even a quick 🎯 emoji in Slack to acknowledge ideas. Small signals that say, “you’re safe to speak.”

💡 Practice radical clarity.
Lizzie Brough teaches leaders that clear is kind. She uses 1:1 questions like “What’s an idea you think I’ll shoot down?” - turning feedback into a skill, not a stressor.

💡 Encourage every voice.
Travis McAshan (GLIDE®) reframes “Any questions?” into “Questions help us learn - what’s unclear?” He reminds his team that asking questions makes you look smart, not unprepared. His mantra: The intelligence of the room increases when more people speak.

And that’s just a glimpse - there’s more from leaders like Vinícius Coelho, Kara Grenier, Tiffiney Fort, Baily Dyer in the full article (link in comments).

Because in remote teams, psychological safety doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s built - one message, one meeting, one micro-action at a time.

💬 Curious - how do you create that kind of safety in your team?
Is it a ritual, a phrase, or a small daily habit that makes a difference?

Ok, I know this isn’t our usual generous Running Remote community…
 …but I still believe in the power of helping each other out ❤️

Call me naive but that’s who I am.

We’ve built something special with Charter for leaders of distributed teams.

15 enterprise speakers from companies like Spotify, HubSpot, Zoom, Upwork, Zillow and Yelp

Each will share a 2-minute insight on how they’re leading distributed teams at scale. Nov 6th - one powerful hour. Link in the comments. 

We’ll dive into:
- AI-powered meetings
- Cohesion in hybrid teams
- Collaboration that actually works
- Team effectiveness when distributed
 …and more.

Here’s my ask.

If you know someone leading a distributed or hybrid org who needs this - please tag them.

I know the headlines may scream RTO.

But some of us?

We’re still quietly building the future of work.

taplio

The Battle

Danny Smith

Kasia Triantafelo

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreKasia Triantafelo's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Danny Smith

Kasia Triantafelo

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Kasia Triantafelo's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreKasia Triantafelo's LinkedIn Performance